


Homeward

by AngelsInTheSand



Category: Original Work
Genre: Drabbles, Father-Daughter Relationship, Female presenting male, Fluff, Gen, Gender Confusion, Gender Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23595736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelsInTheSand/pseuds/AngelsInTheSand
Summary: Just little drabbles that help me get a better feel of two of my characters.The first chapter will consist of character descriptions for Memphis and Dennis. All concluding chapters will be drabbles.Some chapters will focus exclusively on Dennis or Memphis, and some will focus on both of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Updates may be few and far between or frequent. Could receive multiple updates a week or none for long stretches of time

****All information is subject to change****

**Memphis** :  
Birthdate: 1946  
Age: 48  
Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino  
Languages Spoken: Spanish & English  
Gender: Male  
Sexuality: Bisexual  
Personality: Grumpy; sometimes very short w/ others; loves Dennis like a father

Height: 6’2

 **Dennis:**  
Birthdate: 1980  
Age: 14  
Ethnicity: Black  
Languages Spoken: English  
Gender: Female (presents male in public)  
Sexuality: *shrug*  
Personality: Very optimistic; embraces new friends; Polite

Height: 5’5

****Necessary backstory****  
All stories (unless specified) take place in a desert wasteland, with small settlements and towns dispersed between stretches of highway. Memphis is actively transporting Dennis to the safe arms of a protective tribe. Memphis takes this journey very seriously. Dennis does not.

Very few female survivors exist, and those that exist are in hiding. Dennis presents make in public, and only presents female around trusted individuals.

Stories take place around 1994.

Memphis-exclusive chapters may have smut. Dennis-exclusive chapters WILL NOT include smut.


	2. Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memphis and Dennis arrive in a new town, and Dennis wants to finish her comic book.

The day is gone, and the moon has risen to her high point above the car’s head. Memphis stares out along the highway and wishes he hadn’t taken the long way to the next town. But everything he does now is for Dennis, and what is in her best interest.

If he had taken the short route, he would’ve been able to cut right through dangerous territory. If he made it through, he would’ve been in the next town two hours ago. If he had been caught by raiders, he would’ve been killed. A win-win situation, really. But he isn’t alone like he used to be. He has to look out for Dennis, and if the raiders captured the vehicle with Dennis in the passenger seat-

He blinks hard, wiping the thought from his head. He silently thanks himself for not going that way, knowing the regret he would’ve felt would be much worse than the exhaustion and boredom he currently felt.

His head whips to the right as the interior light suddenly turns on, and the cab of the car is flooded with yellow light. Dennis’ hand is on the light, and a comic book is folded open in her lap.

“What did I tell you about turning this light on when I’m driving? You want me to pull this car over,” Memphis reaches up, flicking the light back off. Even from the darkness, Memphis can feel Dennis’ glare from the passenger seat.

“I just wanna finish my book! It’s just getting good,” she pouts. Knowing it’s useless to argue with Memphis, she tosses the comic in the floorboard and sits back, arms crossed over her chest.

“What are you even reading,” Memphis questioned, resting his elbow on the window sill and holding his head up in his palm. Dennis loves reading anything and everything she can get her hands on. As much as she knows about places that don’t exist anymore, Memphis believes the girl has quite an interest in geography. Maybe her grandfather told her stories about beaches and forests, because she was born far beyond the point of ever seeing them in person.

“It was The Amazing Spider-Man! I was almost done! Please let me turn the light on! I need to know what happens,” she pleads, her hands slapping the tops of her legs so that Memphis knows just how important it is that she finish the story.

“Here’s the ending: Spider-Man wins,” Memphis chuckles, eyes never leaving the road. “You can finish it when we get to the next town. Who gave you the comic book, anyway,” Memphis interrogated, his voice playful.

“That shopkeeper in the last town! He saw me looking at it, so he just gave it to me,” Dennis spouted, her voice getting higher with excitement.

Dennis always seemed to receive little gifts here and there. All it took was someone who hasn’t seen a kid in ages to see her, looking like a lean, growing boy, and it’s like a paternal nature spawns from nowhere. 

Memphis thinks it’s the whimsy in Dennis’ voice, in her eyes. The way she smiles at everyone and gawks around shops, chattering endlessly about everything on display. This behavior has earned her many gifts from kindly shopkeepers across the wasteland: a bag of stale jelly beans, a stack of playing cards adorned with half-naked women (Memphis took those), and even a hand-made snakeskin encased in resin. Yeah, Memphis wasn’t so sure about that last one.

It wasn’t a surprise Memphis didn’t know about these little gifts. Most of the shopkeepers were old men that would pull Dennis aside and give her gifts under the table, thinking that Memphis would reject the gifts if he’d known about them. In the wasteland, nothing is free, but sometimes a friendly, young face is payment enough. Memphis would eventually find out about them later, either finding them under the seats of the car or in Dennis’ hands.

The cards were the most shocking gift. He remembered driving out of the settlement while Dennis scrutinized her gift with furrowed brows and pursed lips, wondering aloud who in their right mind would paint a fence naked. It took only one glance, and Memphis almost crashed the car snatching the cards out of her hands.

Memphis couldn’t find a way to explain why someone would be working construction without pants, and thankfully, Dennis left the conversation there. The cards had remained in Memphis’ possession from there on. Besides, he figured he got more mileage from them than Dennis would.

The light flickered on again, and Dennis stared at him, her tongue stuck out between her teeth. She smiled, hoping Memphis would let the light stay on this time. Memphis answered the look by flicking the light back off.

Within a few minutes, lights from the next town rose over the horizon, and Dennis bounced in her seat. Finally, a place to stretch their legs and sleep for the night. 

Dennis isn’t averse to sleeping in the backseat floor. She’s done it many times. She’d sleep in the floorboard, a jacket folded up under her head as Memphis slept on the seat, a gun resting just as comfortably on his chest. Dennis hasn’t been allowed to sleep in the seat since one terrifying night when she was already asleep when Memphis pulled over and passed out in the driver’s seat, unable to drive anymore. Dennis woke up with a dry mouth in the middle of the night and found two hands cupping a face in the window above her. The scream she let out kept Memphis wide awake and driving for the rest of the night. Since that event, Memphis has ensured that if anybody peeks in while they sleep, the first thing they see is a gruff face and a gun.

As the town drew closer, Dennis became more excited, making sure her bag was packed for the hostel. Dennis loves new settlements, almost as much as Memphis hated them. Each new settlement involved new challenges, and Memphis had to be ready to combat them.

As they drove in, Memphis breathed calmly, seeing that most of the town had already retired to their beds. A few men stood around, chatting and smoking outside closed bars. That’s exactly what Memphis wanted: to get in at night and out by early morning. 

Late to bed and early to rise keeps Dennis away from dangerous eyes.

Memphis parked outside of a motel, a hand-painted vacancy sign in the office window. Memphis climbed out of the driver’s seat, Dennis enthusiastically following after him. Memphis rested a hand on her shoulder, calming her and silently reminding her to put on her masculine act. Popping open the trunk, he pulled free a bag of canned goods, enough to earn a night in a two-bedded room. Memphis quietly stepped into the motel office, the wood creaking under his feet as Dennis joined him. The manager looked up from his desk, a book sprawled open on the desk before him.

“Can I help you,” the manager chortled. He was a short man, with wide shoulders and a fatty middle. Memphis lifted the bag of good about chest-height, altering the manager to the offer.

“We’d like to stay a night,” Memphis’ voice was gravelly and gruff. The Manager’s face lit up and he nodded, finding a free key on the hooks behind him.

“You’re just in luck. I have one more free room,” the short man took the bag and traded the key, setting the cans out on his desk to study what he’d received. It took all of ten seconds for Dennis to see the book on his desk, smiling to see that the man also enjoyed reading.

In this world of dust and fear, Dennis hasn’t met many other people that liked reading. Her grandfather liked reading, and she inherited the hobby. Memphis said he used to enjoy reading, but now he just enjoys Dennis reading to him. Finding another bookworm in the wasteland is like finding diamonds.

“Hey, whatcha’ reading,” Dennis couldn’t resist asking. Memphis was already standing outside the office, ready to retire to their room, and he couldn’t hide his annoyance at having to wait out one more conversation.

The manager threw his hands up shoulder-height, a short shout of excitement leaving his lips. His face melted into a wide smile, and the hands came to clasp together at his chest.

“The most beautiful romance novel I’ve ever read, truly something to hold dear and dream of. The romance that every man craves,” he sighs, a dreamy sigh of passion, “Lolita.”

Memphis’ hand finds Dennis’ wrist, and he’s dragging her so fast, Dennis almost stumbles and falls right off the porch. He quickly marches them down to their room, struggling to fit the key in the lock for a moment, and manages to get in within a few moments. He shuts the door behind Dennis, locking it and pulling the big window curtain shut before leaning on the bedside table, releasing a harsh, stressed breath.

Dennis doesn’t understand his stress or the harm of asking about books. But Memphis has seen the world more than she has, and she guesses he saw something she didn’t. Briefly, Memphis disappears out to the car, and returns with soap, a few cans of food, a jug of water, and Dennis’ comic book.

“Go ahead and get your bath,” Memphis instructs, carrying the soap and water jug into the bathroom, setting them on the counter. He remembers the days where these bathrooms had their own water, and it wasn’t required to bring your own water for a private shower. That was before these days. But now water isn’t as plentiful, and it can’t be wasted in long showers. Those days are gone, and Memphis adapts.

Dennis finishes her bath quickly, leaving the last half of water in the jug for Memphis. When Memphis emerges, Dennis is already cuddled up in her bed, her hair still wet, intensely reading the last few pages of her comic. Memphis approaches her, using his towel to dry her hair a little bit more.

“If you sleep with wet hair, you’ll wake up with pneumonia,” he chides her. Her eyes never leave the pages of her comic book.

“No I won’t. I’ve done it before; you say it every time and it hasn’t happened yet,” she pushes the towel away as he goes to dry her head one more time.

“Yet,” Memphis repeats, dropping the towel over the edge of a table. He strides over to the motel door, checking the lock again and ensuring the door won’t budge. He pushes the window curtain back, making sure the car is still untouched. It is.

He finally feels the room is safe enough for him to relax, and he decides it’s time to sleep. He walks over to Dennis as she finishes up the last page of her comic, scooping her up in her blanket cocoon, and carrying her over to the bed furthest from the door. She doesn’t fight or argue, reading the last page like it holds some emergency message as Memphis sets her down in the other bed and ruffles her hair.

Memphis lays down in the bed she tried to sleep in, grimacing as his face finds the wet spot from her hair on the pillow. He flips it over and rests his head back on it, smiling as Dennis closes up the comic and tosses it down on the table beside her bed.

“Did the ending live up to its expectations,” Memphis chuckled, watching Dennis lean over and flick off the light by her bed, leaving the room dark, lit only by a streetlight outside the motel.

“It was okay, I guess. A cliffhanger,” she huffs, sounding a bit disappointed about the abrupt, unsatisfying story ending.

Memphis laughed. “I hated those kinds of endings,”. Dennis yawned across the room, and Memphis knew she would be asleep in a few minutes. Memphis would stay up for another hour, listening and waiting in case he heard anything outside their room. “Good night, Dennis,”.

“Night, Memphis,” Dennis murmured, quickly dozing off.

Memphis lay there for a few minutes, staring into the darkness. When Dennis began to snore, he leaned over to her bedside table, grabbing the comic book, and flicking on his own light. 

“Let’s see if this ending is really as bad as she says,”.


End file.
